J.D. ISIP

VRONSKY

Getting hot in a closet, coat arms and bare arms,
unmanned lapels, unbuttoned shirts, one’s undoing
under mud crusted frocks and coattails. Who wouldn’t

go for a roll in the racks, pull down the soft things
innocently hung on the hangers and hooks, husbands
for instance, or honor, for what it is worth, make up

a cozy bedding, or bedlam—who could resist him
sprawled over a city of furs cast off the animals
taking in the opera, laying an ear to hear it, naked

beauty tremors the door, heave and breath at his
chest, love or lust like a locomotive thrust, a thrill
along the cold rail, closing the door, and your eyes.

J.D. Isip’s collections include Reluctant Prophets (Moon Tide Press, 2025), Kissing the Wound (Moon Tide Press, 2023), and Pocketing Feathers (Sadie Girl Press, 2015). J.D. teaches in South Texas where he lives with his dogs, Ivy and Bucky.